Future of top US Bitcoin exchange in doubt after hackers grab $250,000

BitFloor , a major Bitcoin exchange and the biggest in the US, today suffered a devastating loss after their servers were compromised and 24,000 Bitcoins were taken — a value of roughly $250,000. The affected servers contained a backup of BitFloor wallet keys. The main files reside in an encrypted area, and the problem occurred after the site’s operator did a manual upgrade and put these files in an unencrypted area, according to Roman Shtylman on Bitcointalk . Wallet keys are required to send funds from a Bitcoin wallet to any other address. Shtylman reports that the USD funds BitFloor is holding remain secure, but the substantial loss means it cannot cover all account balances in BTC and will be ceasing operation until a plan ahead is sought. Proceeding ahead under a fractional banking system, in which a bank keeps a fractional reserve but lends out the majority of money...